'March Madness' evident in state political developments
DAN MEYER Political Columnist
What a wild and crazy couple of weeks we experienced when it came to the major developments that have had a significant impact on the ever-changing political landscape of The Empire State.

The sex scandal involving former Gov. Eliot Spitzer, his resignation, the swearing in of David Paterson as his replacement, and then Paterson's personal revelations that he has a few skeletons in his own closet were among the highlights, or should we say lowlights, of the daily soap opera that is politics in Albany.

Let's not forget about last week's announcement by Rep. Tom Reynolds that he will not seek another term and the ripple effects that decision will have on Western New York.

Oh, yeah, and there's still the scramble to figure out who is doing what when it comes to the latest state budget, a spending plan that will likely be submitted late and do very little to inspire confidence and encourage investment, as the key issues of an overabundance of taxes, fees and mandates continue to choke small businesses.

Spitzer was elected to represent "the people" and help with the transformation of Albany from a site that happily allows complacency and inactivity to occur while real problems are ignored and never properly addressed.

That didn't happen. So now we're left with a state government that was led down the wrong path by one of history's biggest hypocrites, with the shame and embarrassment caused by Client 9 finding us scratching our heads as we review the many shameful aspects of his resignation as New York remains in a very pitiful state.

With that said, it's time to clear off the desk, clean out the e-mail inbox and file away the mounds of paperwork associated with the Spitzer sex scandal and share some news nuggets, topical tidbits and other items of political interest as we bid farewell to the Easter Bunny, put away the pussy willows and squirt guns until Dyngus Day 2009 and begin to close the book on a month that truly featured "March Madness" when it comes to New York politics:

Spitzer's immoral actions had to bring a smile to at least a few people from the infamous Gambino crime family. For those who don't recall all of the specific details of that case, it was back in 2004 when Spitzer cemented his reputation as a no-nonsense, take-no-prisoners, hard-nosed crime fighter when he helped to bust up a prostitution ring based out of Staten Island that had ties to the Gambino clan. Of those dozen and a half that were charged, two were charged with falsifying business records, promoting prostitution and money laundering. Hypocrite indeed.

Remember to say you heard it here first: when the smoke clears and the wannabes are separated from the contenders, it's going to be Jon Powers for the Democrats and Mike Powers for the Republicans in November in the race to replace Reynolds.

Powers vs. Powers. Talk about trying to confuse the voters. The marketing and strategic planning for that race, if it does occur, will be something political science professors will use for future lectures for years to come.

Speaking of that race, while Erie

County Clerk Kathy Hochul's name came up recently as a possible candidate to run for Reynolds' seat, I still get the sense from political insiders that Erie County Democratic Chairman Len Lenihan's ideal situation would see Hochul challenging Chris Collins for the county's top elected position in 2011.

While there's no doubt Hochul would certainly be a formidable candidate, and her efforts during last year's run for county clerk shows she knows what it takes in terms of fundraising and effort to win an election, I still think there's a few things on her "to-do" list she wants to check off as she revamps the day-to-day business practices of the county's auto bureau, all the while keeping an eye on Collins' actions.

You know that really annoying guy in your office who gives you useless and unnecessary updates on his "March Madness" NCAA basketball bracket predictions? Here's a link to an online version of that fella, courtesy of Assembly Republican Leader James Tedisco (www.tediscostake. com.) North Carolina over UCLA? Wow, Jim, you're really going out on a limb there.

(Daniel Meyer is a columnist for the Weekly Independent Newspapers of Western New York. Comments on this column can be sent via e-mail to: meyersmusings@gmail.com. Opinions expressed here are those of the author.)